Discusses the roots of civil disobedience from the Boston Tea Party to Martin Luther King and how hackers are follow in these footsteps. Beginning with the ideal of hacking as a public service to improve security on the early Internet to more contemporary examples, hackers around the world have used their skills to promote social good. In Bosnia, East Timor, and even the United States hackers have put the best traditions of free speech to work online: to draw attention to human rights abuses, criticize oppressive laws, and fight injustice. This presentation documents the history of hacking to encourage social change and examines the question: "If hacking has proven a non-violent and effective form of civil disobedience, is it protected by the First Amendment?"